Kucinich makes his case in Ogunquit

Jim Kanak

Thursday

Aug 30, 2007 at 2:26 PM

OGUNQUIT — It’s likely the United States would be a very different place under a Dennis Kucinich administration.

The Democratic Representative from Ohio, a candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2008, was in Maine last weekend for appearances at the anti-war rally in Kennebunkport and a visit to Portland. He also met with an enthusiastic group of supporters on Sunday morning in Ogunquit, where he shared his views on how government should work.

“I have a new vision for America,” Kucinich told the gathering at Roberto’s Restaurant on Shore Road. “It includes peace and rejecting war, pursuing strength through peace.”

Kucinich covered a variety of topics during his presentation and a subsequent question and answer session with the crowd. A centerpiece of his campaign is his plan for getting out of Iraq without abdicating this country’s responsibilities there for starting the war. “We should use the money Congress has already appropriated to bring the troops home now,” he said. “Then we need to set in motion an international peace keeping force. There must be a program for reconciliation among the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, so there’s no partitioning of the country.

“We also need a program of reparations. There are one million people dead there. Because of the decisions of our leaders, one million innocent people have lost their lives. We’ve created a massive breach of humanity.”

Kucinich also spoke about the need for universal health care, noting that he had proposed legislation for such a program and that no other candidate had done so. He said the key to implementing it was facing down the for-profit insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies. “Other candidates have made statements that they can’t take on the insurance companies but will use federal funds to encourage them to offer more coverage,” said Kucinich. “For profit insurers make money by not providing health care. There are 46 million Americans without health insurance and 50 million are underinsured. Why is it our Congress has not taken this on?

“The idea that insurance companies can’t be broken must be defeated. The same goes for addressing oil companies and other monopolies.”

The Kucinich agenda includes closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, overturning the Patriot Act, cultivating alternative energy sources, and restoring the United States as part of the global diplomatic community.

After the presentation Kucinich agreed to a conversation with the Coast Star and was asked to describe his first 100 days in office. He described an ambitious agenda.

“We would cancel NAFTA and withdraw from the World Trade Organization,” Kucinich said. “I would establish trade based on workers’ and human rights and environmental principles. If the troops are not already home, I’d bring them home and implement my plan. There would be a new national security doctrine of strength through peace.”

Other initial plans are to convene world leaders to abolish nuclear and chemical weapons and land mines, join the International Criminal Court, sign the Kyoto Climate Change agreement, and implement a universal education system for grades three through college, fully paid for by the federal government.

The agenda covers housing and jobs as well. “I’ll enable every American to have a roof over their head with a new housing program where the government will underwrite low interest loans,” said Kucinich. “I’ll propose a new WPA program to give people jobs and rebuild the entire American infrastructure.”

Finally, Kucinich also has a new cabinet post in mind. “I’d create a Department of Peace and Nonviolence,” he said. “It would do things like address domestic violence issues.

“Those are the initiatives that would mark the beginning of my administration.”

One of the lynchpins of Kucinich’s strength through peace initiative is the restoration of the United States within the world diplomatic community, an area where the Bush administration has been harshly criticized. Kucinich said he was perfectly positioned to be able to convince a skeptical world that we were serious.

“I’m the one person who’s most consistently challenged the administration,” he said. “I’m in a position to go to those nations and repair our reputation. I’m the perfect one.”

Kucinich is widely considered to be a long shot to win the nomination, trailing heavily financed candidates like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.

He does not appear to be discouraged, however. “We’ve done well in Maine,” he said. “If we can do well here, [the momentum] can spread to other states and parts of the country.”

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